The Stallion Who Can Never Die

Harness placed the box down on his bed and stared at it for several moments. How Scootaloo managed to get it he did not want to know, and he wondered briefly if her theft would make the news. His mind quickly returned to the box before him. Inside could lay the key to his memories, he'd finally know who he was, and why he was immortal. Maybe he could even help Luna in figuring out how he fit in with all that was going on in the city and why an innocent pony was killed because of him. So why was he hesitating now?

"Come on..." He told himself. "Get a grip!"

He took a deep breath. Then a second. Then a third. He placed his forehooves on the box lid, mentally braced himself, then lifted the lid. Inside, lay a folded deep gray fabric. Noting his pounding heart, he pulled the fabric out, unfolding it in the process, and stared at it confused. It was a large coat of some kind, but it was far too big for him and didn't seem to have been made for a pony. He ran his hoof over the fabric, looking at the different buttons and pockets, nothing seemed to be in them. This coat... it wasn't made for a pony, but he knew this coat... he wore it all the time, but how? It was just too impractical for him to wear, there wasn't even holes for his wings to come through. He could sort of see where his forehooves would go, but there was no way they could fit all the way through, just by looking at them. This made no sense, how could he have been wearing this often, when it seemed almost impossible for him to put on?

Nevertheless, the inklings in his mind caused excitement to surge through him, he was on the right track. Turning back to the box, he pulled out more odd clothes, a simple buttoned shirt and overalls and black pants. Like the coat, they were far too big and seemed not designed to be worn by a pony. Yet they too seemed familiar. The silver Pegasus stared at the assortment of clothes before him, his confusion growing. He scratched his head as he tried to figure the odd clothing out.

"What on earth would I be doing with these?"

Sighing, he looked back in the box and found not clothes but two items. A brown strap of some strange material and a large silver object. Taking the silver item in his hoof, Harness looked if over closely. A word suddenly flashed in his mind. Pistol. This was a pistol. He knew what it was, somehow. What its purpose was, however, remained a mystery to him. There was some sort of handle, and it had a small barrel, similar to that of a cannon, was it some sort of miniature cannon? He held the barrel close as he looked into it, wondering what on earth it could fire and how it was-

BANG

With a sharp gasp, Harness sat up, panting as he looked around and seeing the pistol on the floor, a distinct scent in the air around him, gunpowder and something else that he couldn't figure out. What the hell happened? Did I die? From what? He turned and saw a large amount of blood and other bits splattered against the wall. The Pegasus stared wide-eyed at the drying blood and the bits of skull and brain. He now knew what that other smell was. A wave of nausea washed over him, he stumbled and struggled to breathe through the overwhelming smell of his own blood and brain.

After a few minutes, his breathing became normal as the nausea faded away. When he looked back up at his drying blood, he sighed. I'm gonna have to clean that up...

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Nightingale groaned in pain as the light of the now setting sun stung her coat. She had been flying nonstop back to Vanhoover since delivering her message to Celestia. Her bat-like wings ached, sweat dripped from her forehead, and the burning pain from the sun was starting to get to her. Nevertheless, out of stubbornness and devout loyalty to her princess, she continued flying, just reaching the edges of the city. This city, which had so many secrets hidden under its dark shadow, she could smell old spilled blood, deaths and murders that have accumulated over the centuries. Despite the pain from Celestia's sun, the Vampony smiled, she liked this city. I should maybe ask the Princess about coming here more often.

She looked around, trying to pinpoint the hotel Luna was staying at, when she smelled pony blood, freshly spilled pony blood. She sniffed the air, managing to pinpoint where it was exactly, it wasn't far off. Instinctively, she licked her lips, realizing it had been a while since she last ate. The Night Guard decided that a quick snack was needed before seeing her Princess. After all, she thought as she banked and began descending towards a (thankfully) shadowed alleyway. Who'd miss a murderer?

The intoxicating smell of the blood became near overwhelming as she landed in the alley, it made things difficult to focus on. She shook her head and reined her instincts in, using her military-trained discipline to steel her senses. She turned a bend and saw the body of the poor murdered pony, a young Earth Pony mare, lying still in a growing pool of her own blood. The Vampony's eyes widened when she saw the body lacking a throat and left foreleg. She could instantly tell that it was ripped off.

"Sweet merciful Luna..." The Night Guard muttered. Nightingale had seen a lot of brutal things, but never a murder as barbaric as that. What kind of pony could even think of doing something like this!?

A growling sound caught her attention, her ears perking and flicking ahead of her. She looked and saw a hunched figure, its back to her as it leaned over something. A sickening crunching sound was heard and the Vampony's eyes widened when it made the connection. Is it... eating the mare's leg!!? Quickly composing herself, she took a step forward, slamming her hoof into the ground. She saw the hunched form tense, stopping its grotesque feasting.

"In the name of Princess Luna and Equestria, you will turn around and be apprehended for your crimes you... You..." She faltered when it turned and faced her, it's small eyes having a faint red glow to them as it growled. Though it was equine in shape, it was no pony, but some kind of hideous monster. "What are you...?" Nightingale asked, her voice hollow. In reply, the beast lunged at the Vampony with a roar.

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By the time Harness was finished scrubbing away the last of his blood, the sun was already setting. It took a lot of doing getting the cleaning equipment without any staff spotting him and asking as to why he was taking them. Now all he had to do was get rid of the bloody and soapy water in the bucket and return the equipment back. He looked at the door, then to the window which showed the orange sky, a few stars already appearing, and sighed. I'll deal with it later...

As the Pegasus turned to his bed, rubbing the back of his head and making sure a hole still wasn't there, he noticed the brown strap on the sheets next to the clothes. Picking it up with his hoof, he examined it closely. There didn't seem to be anything special about it, but he could almost feel stirrings in the black void of his memories, whatever it was, he was familiar with it. Seeing a small clip holding it together, he opened it up and wrapped it around his left forehoof, clipping it into place, it fit perfectly, settling in nicely against his fur. It felt right, having it strapped around his hoof.

He frowned. All these objects and items were familiar, very familiar, but all it did was raise more questions, not answers. He was still in the dark on his past life, no memories came rushing back. Frustration began to grow as it sunk in.

"Damnit..." He muttered. After all that trouble, he still was just as clueless as before, it not more so. "What the hell am I supposed to do now!?"

At that moment, a shrill scream rang outside, causing his ears to perk and his head to spin to the window. Looking down at the street, he saw a couple of mares running out of the way of a large muscled pony charging by, only to be rammed by a dark blur from the shadows, the two forms rolling across the street. As they both got to their hooves, Harness noticed the larger pony's face, and instantly realized it wasn't a pony. The face was flattened, the eyes were shrunk back, and the Pegasus could see its numerous fang-life teeth, which it bared at everything around it.

"You two!" The other form, who Harness recognized as a Night Guard from her armour, shouted at the two cowering mares. "Get out of here!"

Immediately, the beast spun around and roared at the Guard, who hissed and bared her fangs in reply. Immediately, Harness grabbed his pistol with his teeth and dived out of the window, his wings flaring open to slow his descent as he attempted to land on his hooves. He landed on his face. Ow! Damnit! He cursed as pain lanced through his muzzle. I gotta work on my landings! Quickly getting up to his hooves, he grabbed his weapon with his right hoof and aimed it at the two forms threatening each other with growls and hisses. The Night Guard stopped mid hissed as she saw Harness and his weapon.

"Get down!" He shouted before he flexed his hoof in just the right way to push the trigger back far enough to-

BANG

The beast yelped as it stumbled back, shaking its head in an effort to shake off the pain. The Night Guard meanwhile had rolled and covered her ears, feeling the shock of the gun being fired. Keeping his pistol trained on the dazed beast, the silver Pegasus made his way over to the gray Guard, until he stood next to her.

"You alright?" He asked, keeping his focus entirely on the creature.

"Yeah, thanks," Nightingale answered as she stood up, before she recognized the pony. "Wait a minute, you're that stallion the princess is interested in, the one who's immortal."

Harness grinned. "Is that the only thing about me that interests her?"

"I beg your pardon?"

He was about to reply when the beast shook its head and and roared at the two, causing Harness to flex his hoof-

BANG

Nightingale flinched from the explosive sound of the weapon's fire, but quickly steeled herself and saw the beast stumble back, before roaring and turning around, galloping down the street.

"The beast is retreating!" She cried out, her bat wings flaring. "It can't be allowed to escape!"

"Agreed." The Pegasus nodded. "That thing survived two bullets to the head, and it looked like it could hurt someone."

"It's already killed one pony, I found it feasting on the poor mare."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Harness asked as he reared up his forelegs. "Let's go catch it!"

Stomping back on all fours, Harness galloped at full speed after the beast, his wings flapping as he began to take flight, Nightingale just behind him.

"What was that thing you used?" She asked. "Was that some sort of musket?"

"It's a bit more advanced then a simple musket, don't ask me how I got it cause, frankly, I don't know..."

Looking ahead, the Pegasus cursed when he saw they weren't gaining on it. "Damn, that thing's faster then it looks."

"What is it?"

"No idea... I think..."

The Vampony gave a perplexed look to the silver Pegasus. "What do you mean?"

"It seems familiar... I think I've encountered something like this before, I just reacted on instinct when I saw it. But I get the feeling that it is very dangerous and that we should stop it from doing more damage."

Suddenly, the creature stumbled as a shadow struck at its side and appeared before it, the beast skidded to a halt before looking at the Vampony and roaring. The second Night Guard merely snorted and scuffed a hoof, ready to charge. However, the beast merely turned to the alleyway next to it and ran. A moment later, Harness and Nightingale had caught up.

"Silent Hill!" She said, "I was wondering when you'd show up."

The Night Guard raised an eyebrow and gestured to the alley where the beast ran in.

"I have no idea what that thing is," Nightingale answered.

"You've probably noticed that it doesn't seem very good at communicating," Harness added.

The Vamponies turned towards the alley. "This is where I first encountered the beast, there's a dead end there, we have it trapped."

"Unless it can smash through walls." The Pegasus said, although something told him that was doubtful. Without another word, the three ponies charged into the alleyway, moving past the body of the mare killed earlier, and the wall where Nightingale had seen it feasting, only to find it empty.

"No..." The Vampony growled. "It can't have gotten away, where could it have gone!?"

Silent Hill placed a hoof on her shoulder and the she glanced at her fellow guard and friend, noticing him sniffing the air. Following his signal, she took a deep sniff of the air. Blood, the air was saturated in it, her vampiric hunger called out in desire, but her military discipline squashed it, there'd be a time for feasting later, with a pony who deserved to be feasted. She sniffed again, trying to look past the blood, and began getting another scent, a much less pleasant scent. Her face scrunched up briefly.

"Ugh, the smell of the sewers..."

Meanwhile, Harness had looked around as the two guards sniffed the air, where he noticed a slightly open metal hole on the ground, a disgusting smell rising from it. For some reason, he wasn't surprised that the creature had fled here, but for some odd reason the thought of a ponyhole to the sewers in an alleyway struck him as odd architecture.

"Well, everypony." He announced with a sarcastic grin, "Who wants to take a dip in the sewers?"

A few moments later, Nightingale descended into the dark tunnel, landing in complete silence. Her nose overwhelmed by the stench, she glanced around her surroundings for the slightest hint of movement, her ears scanned for any sound that was out of the ordinary. "Clear," her voice called out, barely a whisper.

It was enough for Silent Hill's expert hearing to pick up, and he too descended gracefully and silently. A moment later, Harness landed, his hooves clacking loudly despite his best efforts. Nightingale mentally cringed. She considered having the stallion leave, but it was thanks to him that the beast was driven into retreat, giving time for Silent Hill to arrive. A growl echoed around them, causing all three to tense.

"Stay close," she whispered, loud enough for the stallion to hear. Harness merely nodded and readied his gun as the Night Guards stepped forward into the pitch darkness. Although the eyes of the Vamponies adjusted almost instantly to the darkness, Harness' had trouble, he could barely make out the moving shapes of the Night Guards, which was very difficult. They seemed to become part of the darkness, before emerging, then falling back in again. He wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, or if it was something else, since he was sure they were no normal ponies. More growls came around them, although it seemed like it was everywhere to Harness, the Night Guards were able to pinpoint where it was coming from.

"There's more then one of them." Nightingale said, her ears flicking about.

"Oh great," The Pegasus muttered. Then, he realized something, he had spent a long time cleaning the blood from the shot to his own head, and the beast survived two bullets to the head. He wasn't sure how many bullets were left in his pistol, but if-no, when-he ran out, he was going to almost helpless against a group of them, and the idea of being ripped apart again and again by them was not at all pleasant to him.

Nightingale's mind, meanwhile, was buzzing with concerning questions. There's more then one down here... how many are there? How long have they been here? How do we stop them? She glanced to her fellow Guardspony and whispered, "Silent. The Princess will be waking any minute to raise the moon, she may be awake even now. Maybe you should go and inform her of the situation, we'll-" She stopped when they came to an old wooden door, poorly constructed and looking very weak.

"This was added in recently," The Vampony muttered.

"What was?" Harness asked, trying to figure out why they had stopped.

Cautiously extending a hoof, Nightingale pushed the door open, she sucked in a breath instantly when she saw not one, not two, not three, but over a dozen of the creatures sitting or sleeping on the other side, a few tending over the one that was, presumably, the one that was shot twice in the head. Instantly, they all turned their heads to the intrusion, and all roared.

"Oh shi-" Harness cursed before he reacted instinctively, pulling out his pistol and-

BANG BANG

If anything, the gunshots agitated them even more, and they all rose and charged at the three ponies.

"RUN!" Nightingale shouted, turning and pulling Harness behind her as she galloped, with Silent Hill right behind them. They didn't go far when a bright orb of light suddenly flashed, Harness covered his eyes while the Vamponies hissed and did the same. It seemed to have the same effect on the beasts, as Harness could hear yelps behind him.

"Get out of the way!!!" A voice shouted. Immediately the three ponies ran as far to the wall as they could, the light dimming down enough to be bearable for the Pegasus' eyes. He opened them slightly to see two stallions in black and white camouflage armour and helmets, each carrying a rifle of some sort, they both raised their guns as the beasts blinked and regained their composure.

"Open fire!" One of the soldiers shouted before he flexed his hoof, flashes of light and a quiet, but rapid tinging sound emerged from their guns as they unloaded what may have been dozens of bullets into the beasts, who whined and backed away, howling. The soldiers advanced, firing short bursts to keep the beasts from getting too brave, Harness watched them as they herded the beasts past the makeshift doorway, before they looked at each other.

"Ready a Plasma grenade," one of them said. "They're too wiled up now." The other nodded and pulled out a bluish orb from his belt. Harness got a very bad feeling.

"What are you-" He was interrupted by the soldier firing another burst from his SMG, before his partner clicked something on the grenade, and tossed it in, the first soldier then immediately slammed the makeshift door shut and both turned and dived away from it. There was a loud cry from the beasts, before they were drowned out by a bright blue flash and a sickening splashing and sizzling sound, the wooden door being blown apart and landing just short of the two soldiers. All was silent for the sizzling noise.

After a moment, the two soldiers began to regain their footing, while Harness walked slowly to the smoking doorway, and a horrific smell hit him. The smell of cooked meat. Figuring what was in there, Harness turned to the two soldiers as they stood up.

"You just killed them! Why did you-" Once again, he was interrupted when the soldiers aimed their SMGs at him, his eyes widened and he made to raise his gun against them when they fired.

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With a sharp gasp, Harness leaned up in shock as his body was jumpstarted back to life, he was stopped by a firm hoof on his chest, a dark blue hoof.

"Harness?" Luna's voice calmed the Pegasus quickly, slowing his heart rate and steadying his breathing, his chest beginning to rise and fall at a slower speed. He looked up to see Luna looking at him, her eyes showing concern. "Are you alright?"

"I-" He started, before he looked around. He was no longer in the sewers, but in the alleyway. Several policeponies stood by a dark bag that covered the body of the mare killed earlier. Behind Luna were her two Night Guards, leaning against the wall. Harness could see them panting and struggling to stay upright, many bandages wrapped around their legs and bodies, covering their wounds. "What happened?" He asked with a hoarse voice.

"You mean, after you were shot?" Luna asked. "Nightingale and Silent Hill reacted quickly, they pulled your body up and retreated, the weapons did a lot of damage to them, they barely got out with their lives. I noticed something was off when I did not see anypony watching over your room, and began searching when I heard of a strange monster seen in the streets. I saw my Night Guards pulling you up from the sewer hole and had the police check over their injuries."

Harness opened his mouth to speak, but coughed. When he cleared his throat, his voice began mostly normal. "What about the soldiers that attacked us?"

"Gone," the alicorn answered. "They didn't pursue my guards for long, at this point they could be anywhere."

Harness groaned in frustration. So we're still at square one.

"Now I must ask you some questions."

The silver Pegasus raised an eyebrow at the Princess, her horn glowed slightly as she levitated his pistol in front of him. "I want you to tell me where you got this..." She then pointed to the brown strap. "...and what it is that you have around your hoof?"